Chance Meeting
by blockofthewritingkind
Summary: Iruka is uneasy around Kakashi, Kakashi doesn't know what to think of Iruka's compasion, but he wants to find out more about the kind chunnin. But when a jounin from Hiden Mist village comes and takes an intrest in Iruka, what will Kakashi do?
1. Chapter 1

Me: Yay! I feel so loved! I got positive reviews quickly. I love everyone who reviewed, whether it was good or bad anyway. If it was bad, I'm sure I deserved it. me no own, you no sue. Belongs to Masashi Kishimoto, lucky person.

**Chance Meetings **

**By**

**Blockofthewritingkind**

"No, Konahamaru, you hold it like this." Iruka said for what felt like the tenth time in the last half hour to the young teacher, as he once again leaned over the young child and adjusted the kunai in the tiny hand. When he had first begun his career as a teacher, he had felt guilty each time he handed a five year old a sharp, deadly weapon, knowing what said child might do with it in a matter of years. But several years of teaching and the knowledge that the skills he was teaching them with said knife might, and probably would one day save their lives had dulled the feeling until it almost wasn't there. But Iruka didn't want to lose the feeling completely. It was part of what made him himself. He broke out of his thoughts just in time to stop the once again improperly held dagger from sailing in the wrong direction and hitting some unfortunate by stander.

"Konahamaru, you hold it like this……."

"Yo!"

"YOU'RE LATE SENSEI!"

Kakashi grinned at the three irritated pre-teens glaring up at him, his eye curving the only outward sign of his amusement.

"Maa, you see, I was wandering down the path of life, and I was attacked and nearly pinned to a tree, and I saw this dolphin who just looked so adorably cute, that I just had to stop and watch for a little while." he explained, waiting for the reprimand, expecting it. Didn't these kids ever learn that he was always at least three hours late? Or maybe it was habit that they kept yelling at him and showing up on time.

"LIAR!"

"But I'm telling the truth this time I swear!" He cried in mock hurt, holding up his hands, looking down the two pink faces and one pale one from his perch on a random tree limb. He actually wasn't really lying. He had been passing by the academy when a poorly aimed kunai had sailed out of no where. Being Kakashi, he had simply stepped aside long before the pointy metal object could embed itself in him. He had stared at it a moment in contemplation (it wasn't everyday a kunai tried to make him it's target in his home village. Not that he had felt he was in any danger. The loud shouts coming from the school grounds and the rather horrible aim of the thrower had given away what was going on.) He had glanced up at the sound of running footsteps heading his way, pulling the kunai out of the tree next to his head. He had immediately recognized the dark skin, brown eyes, and distinctive scar of the chunnin teacher Naruto idolized and looked up to (and never shut up about. He talked about Iruka-sensei about as much as he talked about becoming hokage, beating Sasuke, and eating Ramen. Which was a lot.). He had grinned as he swung the kunai around a finger idly as the teacher slowed his pace when he spotted the jounin, as if reluctant to approach. Kakashi usually got that reaction out of the young man, and he really couldn't blame him. Their last meeting, when Kakashi had nominated team seven for the chunnin exams, had been less than ideal. And the fact that Kakashi had been right probably hadn't set very well with the teacher. He was stiffly formal with the jounin in the mission room, though that might have something to do with the fact that his reports were never on time. He had smiled winningly at the teacher, even though the smile was pretty much invisible under his mask and stopped twirling the kunai in favor of offering it back to him considerately. Iruka had taken the kunai, standing a little farther then a arm's length away, and bowed deeply.

"Kakashi-san, I apologize for that. I should have been keeping a closer eye on my students. I hope it didn't cause you any problems."

"Maa, Iruka-sensei, you don't have to apologize. It can't be easy keeping an eye on so many little brats at once. One missed kunai won't kill anything. Well, I suppose that it could if this wasn't a ninja village, but it is, so you have nothing to worry about." he had scratched the back of his neck and stepped forward, toward the chunnin, who had promptly taken a step back, keeping the distance between them, much to Kakashi's disappointment. It was easier to see the young man blush if he was closer. And the man was blushing . And making some excuse about needing to get back to his class. Kakashi had nodded, watched the young man turn and leave (well, watched his lower area leave) and followed, since he still had an hour or so to kill until he became officially three hours late, sitting in a nearby tree to watch the young man teach. The little monsters had looked like a handful, but Iruka had handled them with ease. Kakashi could see why so many students from the academy had been so fond of this man. He was cheerful and playful, stern but kind. Kakashi liked his smile most of all. Fond and caring. Kakashi wondered why the man seemed to get so attached to the students. He had to know most of them wouldn't make it to thirty. Heck, they would be luck if they made it to their mid twenties! And yet, there was the man comforting one student, laughing with another as he caught him mid-prank, bandaging a cut here, stopping tears there, chasing after stray kunai, and teaching them how to kill. It occurred to him that he had seen Iruka at one or two of his former students funerals, but he had never seen him cry. Look depressed, sure, miserable, yes, but cry? No. That was something he had never seen Umino Iruka do. He couldn't figure it out. It began to bother him. Scowling suddenly, he had left to find his team. Maybe, he had thought, some good old hard training would take his mind off the chunnin. It confused him. How could the man get so attached when he was sending these children out to die? He hated puzzles he couldn't immediately solve as much as he hated traitors and deserters.

"Naruto, you look positively exhausted!" Iruka exclaimed as the blond boy stumbled over to him at the Ramen shop and literally collapsed onto the stool next to his former teacher. An irritated blue eye peeked over at him from where Naruto was resting his chin against the bar.

"Ano, Iruka-sensei, Kakashi-no-baka showed up three hours late again and then worked us so hard Sasuke actually had to sit down for a while." The Kyuubi bearer grinned tiredly at the thought of being able to tease his rival for his moment of weariness educed weakness, conveniently leaving out the fact that he had passed out and had been awoken by Kakashi pouring very cold water on his face and ordering him to do pushups for laying down without permission. Iruka was scowling. He knew that Kakashi was just doing his job as a teacher, but wasn't this a little to much? The boy was barely conscious. (though that didn't stop him from inhaling three bowls of Ramen before going home that night).

Iruka was still angry as he walked home, though he tried not to let it show on his face as he smiled and nodded as his name was called out sporadically in greeting by parents and fellow teachers. He was distracted from said anger, however, as one small voice in particular hailed him from behind. Turning, he spotted the young boy who had lost the kunai and caused his accidental meeting with Kakashi-_sensei_ that afternoon. Daisuke, the boy's name was. He smiled tiredly at the six year old as he shuffled up to him, looking unsure of himself. Iruka spotted the boy's parents a few feet away and smiled at them to. They smiled back. Then he looked back at the shuffling boy in front of him.

"Did you need something, Daisuke-kun?" He asked, smiling softly at the boy. The child took a deep breath and said with ernest sincerity in his voice

"I'm really sorry 'bout the kooniay…." The child frowned at his pronunciation of the word, but bypassed it to continue with his apology. "this afternoon. I should have listened when you told us how to hold it." He looked nervously up at his teacher. Iruka had scolded him pretty badly that afternoon. Something about almost hitting another person. Iruka knelt down until he was a little higher then eye level with the child, a serious expression on his face.

"Did you learn your lesson?" He asked. Daisuke nodded. "Are you going to listen next time?" Another nod. Iruka smiled at him. The boy relaxed. "Then go home and study, and we'll try again tomorrow." The boy's face broke out into a huge grin and he hugged Iruka quickly, promising to do lots better the next day, before skipping off to his parents. Iruka stood and waved to the two as they walked their child home, smiling back at him. When they were out of site, Iruka turned…..

….and found himself face to face with a complete stranger wearing a Hidden Mist village hitai-ate.

Me: Good? Bad? Reviews and flames alike are accepted, so please


	2. Chapter 2

Me: People actually seemed to like the first chapter alright, so I think I'll continue. I don't own the characters, because if I did, there wouldn't be so many spelling and grammar mistakes, lol. Oh, and just as a warning, this story is kind of AU, in the fact that there are some people in here who are killed in the series. So!

"Hi, I was wondering if you could help me?"

Iruka took a defensive stance, one hand reaching half way for his Kunai. Seeing this, the other ninja immediately pulled some papers from his vest pocket.

"Whoa! Hey, I have passport papers! See! Lookit! I'm allowed to be here!" Iruka stared suspiciously at the papers for a moment, before relaxing and giving the young man in front of him an apologetic smile.

"Sorry." He said "But you can't be to careful." The man in front of him smiled wanly back.

"Yes, I know. Had our situations been reversed, I probably would have done the same thing." he replied cheerfully. Iruka blinked at him. Now that he stopped to look, the man was very handsome, with olive toned skin, storm grey eyes, and wavy dark hair. And a very nice smile

"Ano saa, but I'm here to see the hokage, and I was wondering if you could point me in the right direction?" he asked, rubbing the back of his head. He held up a scroll with the hokage's official seal stamped on it. "I'm a little lost. This is my first visit to this country, and I'm already late." Iruka nodded, bowing politely.

"Of course." He said. He pointed back the way he had come. "You go that way, and turn left when you get to the Ramen stand. You keep going down that street, and it's the largest building on the block." The jounin nodded his thanks, turned, and ran smoothly down the street. Iruka tilted his head to one side. He was from Hidden mist, huh? That meant he was from roughly the same county Iruka's mother had been from. He wondered why the hokage had sent for a hidden mist jounin, before deciding that if he needed to know, he would know, and since he didn't know, it was none of his business.

Kakashi looked around the room where he, Asuma, Kurenai, and several others (Kakashi raised an eyebrow when he spotted Ibiki) were gathered in the hokage's office. He also spotted several ANBU's lurking around in the corners. And none of them had even an inkling as to why they were there.

"What are we doing here?" Asuma asked, cigarette dangling from his lips almost precariously. Kakashi shrugged, his eyes following the hokage as the older man walked slowly to the head of the room. The hokage cleared his throat. Everyone fell silent.

"As you all know, it is often crucial for our survival to ensure good relations between our village and those in other countries. As an offering of good will, we have arranged to host a sort of exchange program. A jounin from the wave country will be staying here in Konoha. If the exchange works as planed, when he goes home, one of ours will go with him and spend some time in Wave country. I was supposed to introduce him to you tonight so that if you were to run into him on the streets, we might avoid any unfortunate misshapes. Unfortunately, it appears that our guest is-"

"Very sorry he's late!" A breathless voice said from the door way. The group turned as a whole toward the source, a young, olive skinned man, who was bracing himself against the door jam, looking slightly out of breath. The hokage simply gave him a short smile.

"No one is perfect, Kastumi-san." The older man said. The jounin gave a sheepish grin.

"I'm just lucky I ran into a rather cute chunnin on my way or else I might have never gotten here." he laughed. Kakashi blinked slowly. Well, it could be worse, he reasoned. It could be some one like Gai-sensei, or Ibiki-san. He didn't think he could live with another Gai-sensei running around. His ears would never stop ringing.

"I was planning on allowing introductions, but I believe it is a little to late, and no doubt you are tired from your journey." For his credit, the young man in the doorway had the grace to blush. "So I will just ask you to stay a little longer before I find some one for you to stay with. The rest of you may go home. I expect you to all make his stay as comfortable as possible." Everyone bowed with a murmur of "Yes hokage-sama" and began to file out. As ordered, the young man hung back. Kakashi left for home with an odd feeling in his gut, one that said that something was going to go wrong.

"Now, Katsumi-san, the matter of you living arrangements, I fear, have not yet been quite sorted out. There are several jounin I have considered, but I wanted to speak with you about it. I was afraid it might make you uneasy, and we want your stay to be as comfortable as possible, for the sake of hospitality." The Wave jounin shifted from one foot to another silently. The hokage pretended not to notice as he scribbled some directions on a piece of paper before handing them to the young man.

"These are directions to an unlived in apartment that we keep for visitors. It's not very comfortable, I'm afraid, but I had hoped to have you situated with another jounin at least until we can get a placed fixed up for your stay and until you find your way around." The young man blushed again, rubbing the back of his head.

"It's my own fault, so I have no room to complain. Besides, I'm used to uncomfortable rooms." He grinned. "And as much running around as I did while looking for this place, I've already been over half the village already." The corner of the hokage's mouth twitched before settling back into it's usual frown.

"Well, then, I suppose we should have another meeting in the morning. Un till then, you should get some sleep as best to your abilities." The young man bowed respectfully before exiting the room as silently as any jounin worth his salt.

Several minuets later, out in the forest a shadowy figure walked gracefully and silently over the soft, new grass. He did not jump when a slight figure landed gracefully behind him, seemingly out of nowhere.

"Did you get in?" the voice, soft and neither high nor low, queried without a hint of emotion. Yuki shivered slightly, but answered all the same.

"Of course. I met with the hokage, and they don't seem to think anything is amiss. He is going to be assigning me a jounin to live with…..he says so I'm comfortable, but it's really to keep an eye on me." He laughed. The figure behind him remained silent. His laughter died away. He cleared hi throat.

"Anyway, give me a week, just like we planed, and the scroll will be yours." The figure behind him nodded, and Yuki took that as his signal to leave, which he did hurriedly, wanting to get away from the quiet killer standing behind him in the shadows. As he disappeared into the darkness, another, larger figure appeared in the darkness behind the first. The small figure didn't even flinch behind his mask.

"Do you think he'll be able to pull it off, Haku?" The taller figure asked in a deep, gravely voice. Haku didn't even bother turning around to answer.

"He can probably get the scroll. Weather or not he can keep his hands on it long enough to get it to us is a different matter. The hokage is being cautious, as he should be, master Zabuza (sp?)." Zabuza didn't move, just continued to stare at the back of Haku's head.

"Well, then we'll just have to make sure we're there to retrieve the scroll when he gets caught." Haku nodded.

"master Zabuza, why don't we just get it ourselves?" He asked suddenly. The question had been bothering him. Zabuza finally turned away and began to head back deeper into the forest. He spoke over his shoulder.

"Because if we are seen by anyone, they will report it, and it will blow our larger plan. Of course we could just kill everyone, but that would throw in a few complications. Better to let the blame lie with The Hidden Mist village then with just us." Haku nodded his understanding, and they both disappeared into the shadows of the moonless night.

#The next Day#

Something had happened to Iruka that hadn't happened since his academy days………

He over slept! (A/N OMG!)

He had spent most of that moment rushing about his small apartment, grabbing things he needed, and even some he was pretty sure he didn't need, but decided they looked grabable anyway, taking a quick shower and brushing his teeth as quickly as he could and still get the job done. And he was five minuets late! He blamed his bad start on his odd day before. (in other words, he blamed Kakashi and the mystery Wave jounin. He had been thinking about them long into the night, for reasons he was sure he had no idea about, he had gone to sleep late). In fact, said jounin(s?) were now annoyingly present in his mind. So much so, that he didn't notice the figure crossing his path until it was to late.

CRASH!

"ANO SAA! I'm really sorry!" Iruka gasped as he recovered from the surprise of suddenly being on the ground…..with something laying on top of him? Something? No. Some_ONE!_ He found himself staring into the amused face of the Wave jounin from night before. Iruka felt his cheeks begin to heat up considerably.

"Wave jounin-san!" He gasped, feeling dumb for the name, but lacking anything better. The jounin smiled at the name.

"Yuki." he stated in his light voice. "Katsumi, Yuki. Chunnin-from-the-night-before-san." Iruka's face flushed even more, and the other man's grin widened. Then a thought struck Iruka and he sat up suddenly, pushing the man from his lap.

"Ahhh! I'm late! Ano saa! I have to get to class! Who knows what those little hellions are doing in my absence!" He cried, jumping to his feet, his mind already coming up with worst case scenarios. The jounin smoothly followed him as he took off at a flat out run for the academy.

"Class? Are you a teacher?" He asked. Iruka glanced back at him, surprised to find him following. In truth, Yuki didn't know why he was following the chunnin-from-the-night-before either, but he was bored, and he had time to kill, and this man seemed enduringly….something…. Cute? Maybe. Yuki smirked slightly.

"Ahhh, yea, I'm one of the masters at the academy." He answered. He bit his lip, slightly embarrassed. Now the other man might assume he was like Kakashi-san, always late. The other man seemed to read his thoughts, because he smiled over at the stressed chunnin.

"Poor you. I bet this is your first time being late in a while, ne?" Iruka blushed again and nodded. The other man seemed delighted, though Iruka wasn't sure what about.

"mind if I sit in? I promise I won't disrupt you, sensei, I'm just curious….and bored. I have a lot of time to spare." Iruka glanced back at him and raised an eyebrow.

"Yea, if you really don't mind spending time with children ranging from toddlers to pre-teens and an academy chunnin." Yuki grinned again.

"If you mean an I bothered by our difference in rank, then the answer is no, Sensei-from-last-night-san, you seem like a nicer person then the one Hokage-san told me to live with. Another junin, let me see…..what was his name….Kak….ashi?" Iruka nearly tripped over his own feet.

"H-he assigned you with Kakashi-san!" He asked, nearly passing the academy gate. He stopped in time and turned, heading for his class at the same breakneck speed in which he had arrived. Yuki followed, partially puzzled, partially amused. The chunnin's reaction was something similar to some of the other people's reactions who had been in the room at the time. Only they had been simply surprised. The teacher seemed something similar to appalled….and something else he couldn't place, but it made his curiosity peak all the same. He didn't have time to ask however, before Iruka stopped in front of him and slid open one of the many doors along the hallway. Iruka took a deep breath as he entered the already very noisy room and caught on e of the many adrift kunai deftly in his hand before it could continue on his course and hit some poor unsuspecting victim. Yuki was surprised when the room almost immediately fell silent.

"Good morning class." Iruka said in a slightly accusing voice, one that was a little to nice, and his students, recognizing the impending danger, stood immediately and bowed as one, saying loudly "Good morning, Iruka-sensei!" Iruka smiled, and the kids shivered.

"We have a guest today, a jounin form Wave country and he will be sitting in with us for a while, so behave, and try not to kill anyone today" His gaze swept over the room, hesitating on a few (coughkonahamarucough) before moving on "Got it?" There was a collective "yes sir" from the group and Iruka finally smiled a not-so-dangerous-smile, and the student body noticeably relaxed.

"Then lets all head out to the training yard again, shall we?"

Me: Ahhhh! Suckieness! It burns/coughs/ anyway, please R&R, cuz I don't know who bad this really was. Please tell me what I can do to improve on it! Ja 'ne!


	3. Chapter 3

Me: Sorry for taking so long. I feel loved! I got reviews! I want to apologize for something I have been doing by mistake! I have tried a few times to teach myself Japanese, but it didn't work out very well. As a consequence of such, I have been stupidly using "ano saa" as a way to say "I'm sorry" as opposed to "gomen" because I had seen it used in a way several times that suggested to me that it meant as such. I was informed that that was wrong, so I won't be doing that ever again. To say the least, I am rather embarrassed! So, Gomen Nasai! (I know that is correct for I'm sorry. If I was able to teach myself anything, it was that, lol)

"Now where did he go?" Kakashi wondered, looking unhurriedly up and down the street outside the hokage's office. It was still quite early in the morning, at least by his standards, and the people of Konoha were only just rising. "How am I supposed to keep an eye on him if he disappears before I even get out the door." He sighed. The only thing to do was to go look for him. He sent chakra to his legs and jumped up to the nearest rooftop, then from that one to the next. Searching was always quicker that way. As he scanned the streets below, his mind wandered back to his earlier meeting with the hokage.

_Two Hours Previous_

"You wanted to see me, Hokage-sama?" Kakashi asked nonchalantly as he slouched against the door, half an hour late. (He normally didn't keep the Hokage waiting _too_ long) The other occupant of the room,(besides the two other jounin who were listening without looking like they were listening) the Hidden Mist jounin, looked vaguely annoyed at being kept waiting. Kakashi couldn't really give a hang. After all, the kid was lucky. For him, he was early.

"Ahhh, Kakashi-san, you remember our guest?" Kakashi sent an uninterested "Yo." in the young man's direction. He got a small smile in return. "I regret that we had not had the opportunity to find him someone with which to live." Kakashi got the familiar feeling in his gut he usually got right when something was about to come along and make his poor life even more complicated.

"You want me to take care of him?" Kakashi guessed, ignoring the look that was sent his way by the young jounin at the thought that he needed to be 'taken care of.' The Hokage simply cleared his throat while everyone else in the room looked surprised while trying not to look surprised. "I'll take that as a yes." The Hokage gave a short nod. Kakashi shrugged and headed for the door.

"Sure, he can stay with me. I'm hardly home anyway." he said over his shoulder, motioning for the other man to follow him.

"Kakashi-san, if you would hold on for a moment. I already had Kastumi-san's things moved to your apartment." Kakashi felt a pang of annoyance at this, but by-passed it with another shrug. The Hokage looked around the room.

"If the rest of you wouldn't mind leaving the room for a moment, I would like to speak to Kakashi-san alone." Bowing respectfully, the other three cleared the room, looking curious while pretending they did not to look curious. When the door closed, silence permeated the room for several seconds until the Hokage finally spoke.

"Normally I wouldn't have asked something like this of you, Kakashi-san. However, I want you to keep an eye on him. I don't want him to get into any trouble that might jeopardize our peace with the Village hidden in the Mist. Don't take anymore high class missions unless you feel safe taking him with you." Kakashi made a face under his mask, but bowed anyway. Figuring the hokage was finished with him, he walked out the door. The hokage sighed. He knew that Kakashi didn't like his new assignment, but he was the best man for the job, so he would have to deal with it.

Kakashi looked up and down the corridors. The Hidden Mist jounin was gone. The other two were staring at him with open fascination, not even bothering to try and not look curious. Ignoring them, Kakashi headed out the door to find his charge.

_Back to the Hear and the Now_

And that was why he was where he was now. Leaping from roof to roof. Until something caught his eye. Something bright orange and yellow.

Yuki was amazed at the amount of concentration baby-sitting took. He had always looked down on the academy teachers in his village as the weak and peaceful types. Iruka was peaceful, but while his strength might not have been fighting, keeping a bunch of kunai happy children safe, alive and relatively unscathed defiantly took some kind of skill. And a lot of it, he thought as a stray dagger was caught by the scared brunet before it could make it's home in a young girl a few feet away. And the whole time the other man had been chatting away happily with him and various students. (in other words, people should respect teachers more. --)

"IRUKA-SENSEI!"

Startled, Yuki whipped around in search of the loud noise. Iruka didn't seem to bothered by it, because he only looked up when a streak of orange and yellow had zoomed passed Yuki at an alarming speed, just in time to catch said blur as it crashed rather forcefully into him.

"Ohaio, Naruto-kun." Iruka laughed. Yuki figured that as long as Iruka was laughing , it couldn't be all bad. He liked Iruka's laugh.

"Naruto." Iruka was saying sternly to the blond boy now hugging his waist in a death grip. "Don't you have training with Hatake-san now?" The boy blinked impossibly blue eyes up at the young sensei.

"Hai, but Kakashi-sensei's always late. Anyway, he's-"

"Ohaio, Iruka-sensei! Oh, there you are, Katsumi-san." Iruka and Yuki's heads snapped up and around towards the voice. Kakashi himself was standing (more like slouching) only a few feet away. Naruto glared over at him.

"I ran into him on my way over here." He explained, sounding apologetic. " He was looking for Katsumi-san, and he figured that if he just wandered around, he would find him sooner or later, so he followed me." he glanced up at Iruka and whispered "sorry." Iruka glanced down at him and grinned before he remembered that he was supposed to be watching children with sharp objects and an assignment to throw them at targets. (The targets in question not always being a red and white bulls eye.)

Kakashi watched Iruka intently, wondering what on earth Kastumi was doing with the chunnin, or, indeed, how they had even come to meet. He watched closely as the teacher jumped forward in time to stop another child from hurling a kunai in a way that would have sent it careening off target and in who knows what direction (but certainly not the right one.)

"No, Konahamaru, you hold it like _this_!" He readjusted the kunai in the small hand.

"Yo, Konahamaru!" Naruto called with a grin. The young boy turned and grinned.

"Hey boss!" He called back, starting to return the wave, before they both caught the look on Iruka's face. Both boys immediately looked anywhere but each other. Both Kakashi and Yuki snickered to themselves. Iruka adjusted the dagger one more time before turning back to the other three.

"Hatake-san, did you need something? Or were you just looking for Yuki-san?" Kakashi sighed. The young man was always so polite, painfully so to him. Unless he was angry. Looking at the stiffly polite look on the young man's face, Kakashi decided that an angry Iruka might be good. So he grinned (even though the only indication was the curving of his eye) And shrugged.

"No, nothing. I just feel like sticking around, that's all." He said cheerfully. Iruka quirked an eyebrow. "You know, in case you miss another kunai." Iruka's face flushed ever so slightly, but he remained silent. Naruto was looking back and forth between them as they just sort of stood there, not saying anything, but watching one another closely for a few moments, while Yuki just looked bemused. Kakashi plopped down onto the ground under a tree and pulled out a copy of Icha Icha Paradise. Iruka wrinkled his nose slightly at the sight of the obnoxiously orange book, worried that one of the children might see it and decide it looked like good reading material.

"Hatake-san, if you would please not read that here, there are children around." He said, the politeness in his voice slightly strained. Kakashi didn't even glance up. Iruka ground his teeth together, but didn't have time to do or say anything else, as a stray kunai went sailing off in the wrong direction, requiring him to leap after it. Yuki glared over at Kakashi. Now he understood why Iruka had looked at him so oddly when he had told him who his…."roommate" would be. How odd. Kakashi acted differently around the teacher. Almost unnoticeably so, but it was there: A slight change of stance, an oddness in his tone. And Iruka! The teacher seemed agitated by the mere presence of the jounin. It was something that could be advantuouse to him.

_Around Six That Evening_

Kakashi had hung around for several more hours, laying under the tree, doing nothing but reading, until Iruka had none to gently reminded him that he still had a team to teach. The blond, Naruto, had looked less then happy about the reminder. That had been several hours previous, though as Yuki understood it, still about three hours late. Now he was walking along companionably with Iruka as the teacher headed home for the day, looking tired, but relatively happy.

Yuki had been slightly, but not unreasonably surprised when much of the teacher's tension had disappeared with the silver-haired man. Of course, the man hadn't stayed gone.

About an hour and a half ago, Yuki had caught a brief tingle of the man's aura before it disappeared. It had not come back, but Yuki knew the man was still there, following then, though weather he was watching him like he was sure he had been ordered to, or the teacher like he had been all day, was still open to debate. Yuki was opting for the later, though, as the young man beside him kept periodically stopping and looking over his shoulder.

When Yuki had asked him why he was doing this, the chunnin had simply blushed and said he had the feeling that he was being watched. Yuki had raised an eyebrow, the silver-haired jounin immediately popping foremost into his mind as suspect numero uno, but before he could say anything, the chunnin had simply dismissed the feeling as silly and continued on his way. It hadn't stopped him from looking uneasily over his shoulder though.

Yuki had remained silent for most of the trip, simply enjoying the presence of the tanned man next to him. He had found that though the man at first appeared to be strict and a little stuffy, he had a surprising sense of humor, and a keen instinct when it came to children, especially the trouble makers. When Yuki had commented on this, he was shocked when he heard the teacher giggle. Yes, giggle! The young man had then informed him that he had, at one time, been _the_ biggest prankster in Konoha. He hadn't believed him. He was rewarded for his lack of faith when Iruka and a couple of his students teamed up in catching him in a prank of their own.

As a smug looking Iruka helped him wash the peanut butter and mayo (make up something here, because I'm not a prankster, and couldn't come up with a decent prank if it killed me) out of his hair in the school bathroom, Yuki had been forced to admit that he believed the man now, or suffer going back to Kakashi's apartment with the gunk the teacher had come up with all over his head and shoulders. He didn't think he would live it down if he did.

But even though he could still faintly smell the peanuts in his hair, he had to admit, even if it was only to himself, that he had enjoyed himself more that day then he could remember ever enjoying himself before. And it was all thanks to the man now telling him that they were in front of his door.

Yuki looked up at the building. Iruka lived on the ground floor of a fairly good sized apartment complex. The young man was already opening the door, and was about to head in when Yuki's hand on his arm stopped him. He paused and looked up, a questioning look on his face. Yuki grinned. He bowed to the now blushing and flustered-looking man, his hand traveling gently down Iruka's arm to grasp his hand in his own, and bring it up to his face, to stop just an inch from his mouth.

"Thank you for giving me one of the best days of my life, and if you would allow it, I would like it if you would allow me to accompany you tomorrow as well, if I am able?" He asked softly as Iruka's fingers wiggled slightly in his grasp. Yuki held on though.

"S-sure if you want to….." the flustered young man trailed off as Yuki pressed his lips to the back of Iruka's hand, lingering for a few seconds before pulling back and looking at the teacher's face, now a shade of red that would make any tomato pale with envy.

"_Cute."_ He thought. Out loud he said "Thank you, Iruka-sensei. I look forward to spending more time with you." He turned, still smirking, as Iruka just stared dumbly at him, and walked off. A few seconds later, he heard the tell-tale sound of a door being shut behind him. His smirk widened even more. He was going to enjoy his week here. A lot.

_At the same time in a random tree over looking the entire scene_

Kakashi caught himself growling as he watched the smirking Mist ninja saunter down the street. Why should he care if the younger man liked his student's ex-sensei? He didn't. And that feeling bubbling up annoyingly in his abdomen was most defiantly _not _jealousy. The great Hatake, Kakashi, copy nin of Konohagakure, did not get jealous. It just didn't happen! I mean, what was there to get jealous _of_? Nothing, that's what. Absolutely nothing!

Kakashi knew he sucked at lying, he just whished that for once he could lie decently to himself.

_At the same time in Iruka's apartment_

Iruka was lying on his bed, arms crossed behind his head, staring at the ceiling, wondering how he was going to face Yuki-san the next day if, indeed, he showed up, without blushing and stammering and making a complete idiot of himself. He sucked in a breath, scowling as he mentally berated himself for acting like a school girl with a crush. He would just act like nothing happened. Surly Yuki-san hadn't meant anything by it. And if he did, Iruka shouldn't care about it. He was never one for one night stands, and with Yuki-san simply visiting, all he would be was a fling.

That settled, he closed his eyes to get some sleep, but they flew open a second later as a masked face, curved eye, and gravity defying silver hair behind a neon orange book floated across his mind. This time Iruka sat blot upright, as if he had been shocked. What the hell?

"Ok…..why did I just think of Hatake-san?" he asked the wall on the other side of the room. The wall decided not to answer, so after a few moments of confused staring, a rather worried Iruka laid back down and waited for sleep to come. Today had been very……different.

Me: Sorry for the sucky-ness of this chapter, and how long it took me to get it posted. I had writers block for a good deal for this chapter, and the first part was written in Drivers Ed. That class is relatively boring. Oh well, tell me if you liked it or not, and why, please. Reviews are like oxygen to me. So if you don't want me to die, then review please .


	4. Chapter 4

_**Me: Oh! I am so sorry for not updating sooner, though I would be lying if I told you school kept me. I'm the kind of person who never brings her homework home, half-asses all schoolwork, and still makes A's B's and the occasional C. I still haven't figured that out yet, but I don't cheat, so I thank God for my large amount of luck. My problem is simply that I have a large problem with blocks of the writing kind. **_

_**I have recently developed an obsession for Pet Shop of Horror and the Digimon Tamers Pairing Hirota, (which more people need to write on, btw.) I'm sorry if this chapter sounds forced, because it is, so I have an excuse. I couldn't just sit around and not update though, it was bothering me, so thank you to all the people who reviewed and kept me breathing, I hope this chapter won't disappoint to much.**_

Kakashi stared up at his ceiling in the pre-dawn light. His hands were starting to go numb in their position behind his head, a testimony to how long he had been lying there awake, contemplating.

Surely the jealousy he had felt the night previous had something to do with Iruka-sensei doing his job of keeping an eye on Yuki-san for him (unwittingly though it was), and better then he was at that. It had absolutely nothing to do with the kiss the other Jounin had placed on the school teacher's hand. It just wasn't logical.

He had spent all night telling himself this, and now he was sure he had himself firmly convinced.

Positive.

Absolutely.

100.

……….He needed coffee.

Climbing slowly out of bed at the ungodly hour of six forty-five in the morning for the second day in a row, the silver-haired man slipped his mask and hitai-ate on. If anyone else had been awake to see it, he would have cut a comical site with his facial gear on over a fluffy pink bathrobe (which he insisted to himself was light blood red to compensate for the fact that the shade could be described as neon), but as no one was up and about, not even his house guest, who was sleeping soundly in the guest bed room, no one was there to see it.

Kakashi slipped by the door to the guest room extra carefully and stealthily. Part of the reason he hadn't been able to sleep was because he had had the overwhelming feeling of sleeping right next to the enemy, one that could slit your throat without warning. The feeling came back full force as he caught a glimpse of his rival sleeping through the slightly-ajar-door.

………..He _really_ needed coffee.

An image of Yuki leaning over and brushing his lips over Iruka's Carmel colored skin popped into his mind. He wondered if that skin actually did taste like candy, and he felt the previous night's envey come back with a vengeance. Dammit! He couldn't even let his guard down around himself anymore! His hand strayed to the larger of his mugs.

He _really_ needed _a lot_ of freaking coffee, and he needed it _now_, dammit!

On the Other Side of Town in Iruka's Apartment at the Same Time

Iruka slowly combed his fingers through his silken sable locks once for good measure, making sure his comb had wrestled all the matted tangles from his rather fitful night's sleep out. It flowed through his fingers like dark night's water; Smoothly and without hindrances. Satisfied, the man swept the shimmering locks back into his usual high ponytail before obscuring the loose hairs that fell around his face with his hitai-ate, chewing his bottom lip all the while.

His dreams had bothered him that night. They weren't his usual ones of taking Naruto to the ramen stand, teaching class in his underwear, or anything like that. Hell, they hadn't even been his run of the mill nightmares, like the one where he was being chased by a giant bowl of ramen, his students getting killed, Naruto getting injured, or even of his parents dieing in the Kyuubi attack.

The dream had stared out normal enough. He had been teaching his class, pants on, when a voice had hailed him from the door. That meant, he had thought to himself, that it couldn't have been Hatake-san because on his rare trips to the academy, he always used the window.

_"Sensei, over here!"_ The person hailed him again. He had turned to look.

_"Yuki-san!"_ He had said with a smile, not in the least surprised to see the man for some reason. The other man had flashed his gorgeous smile at him. Iruka distinctly heard some of his older female students sigh wistfully.

_"You still don't mind me sticking around, do you Iruka-sensei?"_ He had asked. Iruka was touched that he had done so. Most people (coughKakashicough) just came in and sat on his desk the whole time without a word of warning.

_"Of course!" _he had replied. Yuki-san had beamed and sat in an extra chair to the side of the room.

Iruka continued to teach class normally enough for a few minuets, before _it _happened.

He was in the middle of re-teaching the lesson on how the hold both shuriken and kunai differently when the window snapped open and Kakashi-san had leapt through. Iruka had turned to tell the older man off for being so rude, and could he please use the door next time, when he felt an arm wrap its self roughly around his waist and the sting of cold, sharp steel biting against his neck, begging it's master for some blood; His blood.

_"Don't move, Kakashi, or your precious teacher will loose all his blood in front of the kids."_ Kakashi had frozen at Yuki-san's threat, eyes glaring hatefully at the other man. Iruka had been startled to see the Sharingan. Whatever was going on, it must be bad. Iruka had suddenly felt so stupid for trusting an outside nin like he had.

_"Konahamaru, don't!"_ he heard another child whisper. His heart froze. Yuki-san had apparently heard it to, because he had grabbed a kunai out of the holster on his leg (why hadn't Iruka seen it when the man had walked in?). Everything slowed down for Iruka and he felt adrenalin rush his system. He might not know what was going on, but no one, and he meant no one, raised any kind of threat against his students while he was still drawing breath. EVER!

As Yuki had let the kunai fly, Iruka had taken his momentarily divided attention and put it to good use. He had rammed his elbow into the other man's stomach, catching him off guard enough that Iruka could slide out of his grip with only a minor nick to his skin. He leapt after the knife, intersecting it right before it hit the young boy. That gave Kakashi time to leap forward. Yuki spotted him and leapt out of the way.

_"Give that scroll you stole back!"_ Iruka heard him hiss. Yuki simply dogged him again. They were near the window, and Iruka couldn't let this continue in the class room anymore. As Yuki went to block a kunai, Iruka rammed into him, knocking him off balance and forcing him to go out the open window. But not before the older man's hand shot out and grabbed his arm, dragging him with him. He had only been able to catch a brief glimpse of Kakashi's single eye, wide with surprise and horror, before….

………He woke up.

Iruka figured it just showed that he still didn't trust the other man, no matter how nice he seemed. Like a ninja, he was always looking underneath the underneath, and he jus wasn't used to trusting enemy nin in his home village. Hell, when an enemy nin got into the village, you were usually supposed to kill them.

He wasn't stupid. He knew that the reason Hatake-san had been hanging around so much the day before was because he was probably told to keep an eye on Yuki-san. While Iruka defiantly felt safer around the Mist nin knowing that, he still wished the Hokage could have assigned someone else to the job. Hatake-san made him antsy, and he still had yet to figure out the reason. And after the stunt Yuki-san had pulled (he figured it was just some kind of Mist curtsey, but still!) the night before…..

He felt a blush rising up into his cheeks at the memory of the other man's soft, warm lips against the sensitive skin on the back of his hand. Realizing he was cradling his hand while his stomach twisted slightly, he shook his head vigorously, trying to rid himself of the thought. It had felt good in an off sort of way.

Grabbing his book he headed out the door, setting traps as he went, and, shoving his dream to the back of his mind, went to find Yuki-san before he went to the school.

_**Me: well, sorry thins isn't longer, but I've used up all of the few motivated ideas I could come up with. Sorry…….Review, maybe I'll be inspired. ….And if you have any suggestions….feel free….I'm going to watch the fifth One Piece movie now. Maybe that will help…..**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**Me: OK, lets try a chapter now……My mind is still slightly overloaded from the Quick Thea test I took this morning. I can't believe I had to get up early on a SATURDAY! That's just evil-ness….. Oh well, here's a disclaimer in case I forgot it in the earlier chapters (I don't feel like going back and looking) I don't own Naruto, or the only Het pairing that would be even slightly possible would be Hinata and Naruto, because Hinata-san is the only female in the show so far that I can stand even a little bit, and there would be many more love triangles and much less clothes……**_

****Iruka surveyed his class sternly, ignoring Yuki-san's snickering in the corner. The man had been there when he had showed up that morning. Iruka had been surprised and a little uneasy, due to his dream. He had relaxed substantially after a few minuets of the other man's cheerful and easy chatting, however, and now was giving his undivided attention to the problem at hand; Said problem being the very sharp, not-for-practice-or-kids kunai buried dangerously close to his head in the black board.

"So…" He said, his voice stern and deceptively calm. "Who's kunai is this?"

The only thing really showing how pissed off he truly was was the very noticeable twitch in his left eyebrow. The children, knowing full well how to read these signs, refused to look at him.

The twitch grew.

The children cringed.

Yuki snorted.

The window flew open.

"Yo, Iruka-sensei! I need to discus something with you! Can you come with me for a moment?" Kakashi asked over his loud orange book, his eyes never leaving the page. There was a very silent pause, in which even Yuki was completely silent. Kakashi got the impression that he had just interrupted something very important. "…….is this a bad time?"

Iruka exploded.

"Why _yes_ Hatake-_san_ it is indeed _a bad time_…" He hissed. The entire class held it's breath, the students because they knew that the jounin was in for it now, and Yuki because things were getting very interesting. Kakashi either didn't know or didn't care about the grave he was digging himself. He had had coffee that morning.

A whole pot.

And a half.

He was ready for anything.

Bring it on baby!

"Really? Does it have something to do with that kunai? Your dodging skills _still_ haven't improved much, ne?"

Kakashi learned that a room of small children could indeed become quiet enough to make even him worry. He was sure he just heard a speck of dust land on the window. He turned the page in his book. Or at least he tried to. He didn't get very far before it was yanked out of his hand. That surprised Kakashi. He was sure Iruka hadn't moved. Looking up he spotted Yuki waving the book in the air for a moment before handing it to Iruka, who immediately stuck it in the top drawer of his desk and locked it. Not that Kakashi couldn't get around the locks. It was just so troublesome.

"Now that wasn't very nice." he said in his usual bored tone. Yuki simply smirked at him. That annoyed Kakashi a little bit, not that he would let on. Instead he said, casually, though for some reason he cringed inside as the words passed his lips:

"Really, now Iruka-sensei, I can understand why Yuki-san over there is grinning like that, but I would have expected you to be in a better mood than this as well. Or are his moves in bed not as good as his looks?" He wiggled an eyebrow in case neither of them got what he was implying. He needn't have bothered himself. Iruka's body immediately tensed almost impossibly, and Yuki's grin disappeared completely as his eyes swung over the Iruka to watch the other man's reaction.

"Class…" Iruka said, his voice soft, hardly above a whisper, but as loud as a shout in the deathly still room "You are dismissed for today, but I want to know who threw that knife tomorrow, or the entire class will have to write a five page essay on how to clean and store each and every weapon in a ninja's arsenal." There was a mad dash for the door. Iruka turned and watched them leave. Kakashi and Yuki watched him watch them leave.

Kakashi had been contemplating ways to sneak around the young teacher and steal back his _Icha Icha_ book when the man in question turned back around to face him. Kakashi had been expecting anger, frustration, hell, he wouldn't have been shocked it the man had started screaming right them and there.

He wasn't expecting a slap in the face.

Because he wasn't expecting it, Iruka's hand connected squarely, with the side of Kakashi's face with a strength Kakashi wouldn't have other wise given the teacher credit for. Not that it hurt. It was only a slap and he was the infamous copy nin. But it still stung like hell, and it surprised the shit out of him. Iruka had always been so stiffly formal with him since the chunnin exams. Kakashi had never even imagined that he had even the audacity to hit someone of higher rank than he.

"_ How. Dare. You._" Iruka hissed between clenched teeth. He had the feeling that he would regret this severely once he had calmed down, but right now he didn't care. It had felt so damn good! And seeing Kakashi standing there with a dazed look on his face was far beyond satisfying. Yuki was still saying nothing, apparently getting just as much satisfaction out of this as Iruka was.

"How dare you come into my class, with your nose in that filthy garbage you read, _through the window_, inturupt me, and then insinuate that Yuki-san and I-" He paused his rant, which had been building in volume and force with every word uttered, for a moment, and blushed darkly, stealing a glance a the man beside him before plowing on. "Yuki-san is a guest here! What he must think of our village now is beyond me, but whatever it is, I'm sure that after that…..!" he trailed off again, seemingly at a lose for words.

The chunnin took a deep breath, seething, but trying to calm himself, knowing that he had already crossed more than his fair share of lines that day.

"Please do not ever enter my class again, Hatake-san, unless it is a matter of life-or-Death importance." And with that said, he turned on his heal and left the room, slamming the door behind him with more force than was strictly necessary.

After a moment of surprised silence, Kakashi walked over to the desk and made short work of the locks separating himself from his beloved orange porn.

"He hates you, you know?" Yuki said at length. Kakashi didn't even glance up from his book. "I can see why." The other jounin added after a moment. "You pick on him constantly, with no regard for his feelings or his wants." Still Kakashi remained silent.

"You don't know how to act around him, do you?" Yuki asked at length. Kakashi finnaly glanced up at him over his book. Yuki shot him a purely evil grin.

"Good thing I do then, hmmm?" He sneered. And with that he leaped out the academy window and headed in a direction he knew would take him straight to Iruka's apparent.

_**Me: Sorry, it's short, but I'm working on getting better. Once again, if anyone has any suggestions….(AKA, I'm begging anyone, throw me a bone here! ;;) please feel free to review and tell me! **_


	6. Chapter 6

Me: Ok, I want to work on getting at least one of these fics done. Once again, if I owned anything, many of the fics I've read would not be fics, they would be tv episodes.

Yuki looked around. He was sure he would be able to beat Iruka-sensei to this place, but the young man was nowhere in site.

The place he had stopped at was an intersection of two paths; One was Iruka's normal route to and from the academy, and the other Yuki hadn't bothered to check out yet. He should have been, by his calculations, at least a few seconds ahead of time.

He kind of pitied the poor chunnin. He really had, to his credit, looked completely mortified. He wondered briefly if the other man was a virgin. It would explain a few things.

Shrugging, Yuki headed up to the apartment complex in which Iruka lived. The lights were out and the young man's neighbor, a young civilian woman, said that he hadn't come back since he left that morning.

"You night try the memorial stone though." She suggested. "When he's troubled by something or just feels sad, he heads up there to talk with his parents. Makes no big secret out of it. It's up that way." She pointed in the direction of the crossroad. He guessed she meant the road he hadn't been down yet. He should have known.

He thanked the woman and headed off. Several minuets later he was standing behind a tree, chakra carefully masked, listening to the teacher as he asked his parent's spirits for advice.

"-and I'm sure Yuki-san must think so poorly of me now….actually, now that I think about it, I wonder what Hatake-san wanted to talk to me about….? It must not have been to important if he still had time to insult me in front of Yuki-san and my entire class…. I know he hates me, but I apologized for our argument after the chunnin exams….."

Yuki blinked. So there was a reason behind the coldness between the two leaf ninja. Or at least, that was part of the reason, though he sensed it was more on Iruka's side than Kakashi's. Once again, this could well prove to be useful information. He just had to figure out how to use it to his advantage.

_With Kakashi Not to Far Away_

Kakashi should have been enjoying his favorite chapter in the latest issue of _Icha Icha Paradise_, should have being the key word in that sentence.He blinked as he realized that he had just reread the same sentence for the sixth or seventh time. Growling to himself, he stuck the acidic orange book in his back pocket. What was wrong with him?

Sighing, he scratched the back of his head. Iruka's injured, angry face flashed across his mind. What he had said was stupid, he would admit that. He had no idea _why_ he had said what he had, but it had just sort of….slipped out. He blamed Yuki. Something about seeing the two of them together…..he just had a bad feeling about Yuki, and his sense of duty to protect the village kicked into overdrive around him. And since Iruka-sensei was part of said village, it irked him to see the two of them so closely together.

Yea, that was it. That had to be why he got so upset. Iruka-sensei hadn't done anything, after all.

But now he had a problem. If Iruka had disliked him before, he hated him now. And for some reason, Kakashi had a problem with that.

He decided that he needed to talk to Obito. His friend usually gave him some plausible ideas, even if he would never admit it to him. He headed for the memorial stone.

_At the Same Time at The Memorial Stone_

"Iruka-sensei?" Iruka jumped slightly at his name, spoken softly behind him. He hadn't realized anyone was behind him, though when he saw who it was, he was not as surprised.

"Yuki-san….." He said, standing from where he had been kneeling in front of the polished surface, tracing the kanji of the two people he lost to soon. "What are you doing here?" Yuki shrugged.

"Looking for you. Are you OK? Or am I interrupting something I shouldn't be?" he asked. Iruka shook his head, a small smile on his lips.

"I'm fine, Yuki-san. I just needed to have a talk with someone, that's all." He gave him a bright smile. "Did you need me for some thing?"

"No, I was just wondering…." And idea popped into his head "…would you like to go out to dinner with me tonight?"

Iruka blinked at him.

He opened his mouth and closed it again.

Then he smiled.

"Sure, Yuki-san,. I'd love to." Yuki beamed at him.

"Great! But please, Iruka-sensei, you don't have to be formal with me. We are friends after all, are we not?"

Iruka blinked, hesitating for a moment, his dream hovering on the edge of his mind for a moment, before he smiled again.

"Of course!" Grinning, Yuki leaned over, his mouth close to Iruka's ear, warm breath tickling the shell.

"Well then, I hope that means I'm not completely out of line here….." And with that, he placed a small, chaste kiss on the young teacher's cheek.

Startled, Iruka froze as Yuki pulled back, studying his face for a moment, before grinning his gorgeous grin at him again as he turned to walk away, calling over his shoulder

"I'll leave you to your conversing with the dead. Just be ready by seven. I'll pick you up then, Ok? My treat, your choice." And with a wave of his hand, he disappeared in to the trees surrounding the stone, leaving a still shocked and furiously blushing sensei.

"Maa, well aren't you the lucky guy, Iruka-sensei?"

For the second time in ten minuets Iruka found himself jumping at the unexpected sound of another human voice. His eyes snapped to a tree just to his right, surprise quickly changing to a look of calm coldness when he spotted Kakashi standing beside the tree a few feet away, slouched as usual, but sans his obnoxious porn.

"Hatake-san, did you need something?" He asked, his voice equally cold. Kakashi winced slightly, but the motion was hardly noticeable. Instead, he stepped forward, stopping a reasonable distance away.

"Ahhh….yea….." He rubbed the back of his head again, looking anywhere but Iruka. Just because he had come to the conclusion that this needed to be done, didn't make it anymore easier. Iruka raised an eyebrow. Kakashi took a deep breath.

"Maaaa…….look, Iruka-sensei, I realize you hate my guts, and that I haven't really given you a reason to revise that opinion, but….." Iruka's eyebrow was getting higher and higher. Kakashi suddenly swung his head around to look him straight in the eye, his cyclopean gaze, his penetrating, single blue eye, unbelievably serious, staring right in to his own. Iruka blinked, and found both his voice and his ability to move stolen from him once again.

"I just wanted to say…." Kakashi said softly, almost inaudibly "That I am very sorry for what I did in the class room this afternoon. It was out of line, and I wasn't….. I didn't mean for it to really come out of my mouth….I mean…..I didn't mean to say it, it's just that….." He trailed off, debating on whether or not to tell Iruka what he really thought of his dinner date for the evening. Iruka, recovering from h is surprise, turned his head to one side so that the other man couldn't see the blush that had, for some reason, chosen that moment to return to his face.

"I'm not going to apologize for slapping you." He said in a voice less cold and more huffy. Kakashi couldn't stop a small smile at the tone. The man sounded almost like one of the brats he taught.

"I wasn't expecting you to. I'm not even expecting you to forgive me. But you didn't deserve what I said." Now that he had started, this apologizing thing wasn't as hard as he had given it credit for. He didn't even need coffee! (A/N I'm not going to let that one go anytime soon)

"So then why did you say it?" Iruka demanded, finally getting his blush under control (it had to be the weather, damn changing climates) and turning to fact the copy nin across from him. The older man shifted slightly from one foot to the other slightly.

"Yuki-san makes me uneasy." He cocked his head to one side, regarding Iruka carefully. "He is a mist ninja after all. Be careful. You can never forget what he is, no matter how…..close…..you get to him."

The slight pause did not go unnoticed by Iruka, who arched an eyebrow again, but said nothing. They stood in uneasy silence for a few moments, the sun setting to the west casting an almost to bright gleam about everything. Then Iruka turned away, heading back toward the village.

"I accept your apology, Hatake-san." He hesitated a moment, turning to look over his shoulder at the older man, flashing him a small, slightly unsure smile. "And thank you."

And then, like Yuki, he too was swallowed by the darkening forest surrounding them.

Turning back to the stone, he felt Obito laughing at him.

"Oh shut up, at least I apologized. I don't do it often, so of course I'm going to suck at it." But he couldn't really gripe to much. Iruka had smiled at him. Sort of. And though it wasn't a large smile, for some reason all of the bad feelings he had had all day suddenly disappeared without a trace.

**Me: Ack! Ohhhhh the suckiness! I don't like it but I'm posting it anyway. My muse id still on vacation. Once again, if anyone can give me any help, please do…suggestions are welcomed with open arms. Reviews are welcomed with much love from me. ; R&R please XD**


	7. Chapter 7

Me: Ok, I'm determined to get this fic done ASAP…..Grrrness…..thank you everyone for their wonderful reviews and the excellent suggestions that came with them. Several people said that Kakashi should follow them to dinner…..I say good idea, but I'm also following it up with another suggestion I got that I really liked….It's making my head hurt…. P

Warnings? Yea, my pitiful attempt at some humor…. You have been warned……T-T;

_In Some Random Casual Restaurant_

Iruka smiled and laughed happily with Yuji-san….his….date. It still sounded odd to call him that, but it was Yuki himself who had initiated the name in the first place.

Yuki had been prompt and on time, like he seemed to be with everything else. He was polite and considerate, even going as far as to pull Iruka's chair out for him and them push it under him so that he was seated at the table. Part of Iruka had loved the act immensely, while the other felt unbelievably awkward. It wasn't that he was afraid of what anyone would think, his date with another man. Homosexuality was just something that was generally accepted in Konoha. It was an unspoken rule. After all, life for a shinobi was much to short to waste skipping out on things because of what others might think. (Sighs If only things were like that in real life…--;) It was something else….something that he couldn't quite put his finger on…..

He was completely distracted by a commotion; Loud burst of raucous laughter, some almost drunken sounding cheering, and general shouts. Iruka knew before he even turned around, what was going on. That noise could only mean one thing: A group of Jounin had just entered the establishment. Obviously a group of jounin with something to celebrate…or not. It could be that they just wanted to drink and annoy people.

Glancing over at the group and noting that some of them were, indeed, drunk, he recognized several familiar faces: Gai-sensei (the source of a grate majority of the noise) Raido and Genma, (who Iruka promptly vowed never to watch drunk ever again), Anko, Ibiki, Kurenai, Asuma, some others Iruka didn't recognize. He continued to watch for several minuets more, but could find no trace of what he was only half-way aware of looking for: He could see no gravity defying silver hair standing out like snow in July like it usually did. Kakashi wasn't there. As Iruka turned his attention back to Yuki, he chewed his lip, wondering why he felt so disappointed all of a sudden.

_Kakashi's House An Hour or so Previous_

Kakashi was sprawled lazily on his couch finishing up the tenth chapter of _Icha Icha_ as Yuki rushed out of the apartment, presumably for his date with Iruka-sensei. He didn't know why Yuki seemed to be so interested in the young teacher. Admittedly the younger man was easy on the eyes. Kakashi had checked him out on more than on occasion. But he was cute and that was it. He had said so himself on several occasions when the young teacher had somehow become the topic of conversation. A lot of the other Jounin, especially the senseis, were usually very impressed with the students he turned over to them. If there was a student they fought over, it was one from Iruka-sensei. Many people admired the young teacher.

Kakashi, of course, always took the time to say that, yes, Iruka was a great teacher, but the reason he was so was because he taught with _love_ and _feelings_, things that could easily get a shinobi killed. The others would smile and shake their heads and say that yes, that was true, and yet wasn't his own team proof enough that, if anything, those feelings would only serve to make the children stronger? And Kakashi would always reply that all it did was teach them the bitter pain of lose when their friends and loved ones died right before their eyes. And the other shinobi, knowing why he was saying such things, would shut up, but their eyes would always say to him "You don't understand because you won't let yourself. Until you do, you can't really win this discussion."

It infuriated him.

And yet, when he watched his team interact, he could almost believe it were true.

When he watched Iruka with his students, he could see why Yuki, and most of the others who knew the chunnin held the man in such high regard.

Kakashi snapped his book shut with a growl. He still had that mission to watch Yuki. He had been slacking off. But how was he going to keep and eye on him?

Before he could contemplate the matter further, he sensed a presence outside his door. One he recognized to be another jounin.

Kakashi walked to the door.

Kakashi opened the door.

Kakashi saw green.

**"MY ETERNAL RIVAL! HOW HIP AND COOL OF YOU TO ANSWER THE DOOR BEFORE I EVEN HAD A CHANCE TO KNOCK!"**

Kakashi closed the door.

Kakashi headed for his nearest escape route.

**"WAIT! MY ETERNAL RIVAL! I HAVE A MESSAGE FROM THE LORD HOKAGE!"** Gai cried through the wall. This caused Kakashi to pause. Answer the door again and risk listening to Gai for to long and going deaf, or leaving and going to the hokage himself and asking what he wanted Tough choice…..not.

Kakashi jumped out the window, silently cursing the beautiful green beast of Konoha for not being a moment later. This was taking precious time out of his Iruka-er-Yuki stalking time. Making a split decision, he figured he could at least find out where Iruka and Yuki were going. Changing directions, he headed as fast as he could toward Iruka's apartment, hopping that Iruka would play the girl and fuss over his hair or something to buy him some time to catch up.

Luck was on his side. As it was, Iruka and Yuki were just leaving the apartment complex as he arrived. Landing softly on the ground around a corner, Kakashi watched as Yuki courteously offered Iruka his arm and Iruka, blushing, took it shyly. Kakashi rolled his eyes. All that courtesy stuff was just an over rated ploy. Iruka was smart, why couldn't he see that Yuki was just trying to get into his pants. Really, the young teacher had never struck Kakashi as a fling type of person. Not that _he_ cared of course.

Really. He didn't. He was just saying.

Kakashi bit his lip as he watched Yuki lean down a little closer than was strictly necessary and whisper teasingly in the sensei's ear. He watched Iruka's face light up until he was sure all of the blood in his body was in the younger mans face, weather from what had been said, or the sensation of warm breath ghosting across his skin, Kakashi wasn't sure he wanted to know.

O.K, it was Kakashi-confesses-something-to-himself-time.

He cared.

He cared a whole lot f-ing more than he wanted to admit.

Not even coffee could help him now.

Kakashi sighed as he watched the two enter a semi-fancy restaurant not to far from Iruka's apartment. He growled as Yuki held the door open for his companion, as Iruka smiled and blushed his thanks.

Deciding that he had watched Yuki enough for one night, Kakashi turned and headed back in the direction of the Hokage's office.

_Two Hours Later With Kakashi in the Hokage's office_

The old man watched the jounin slouching in front of him.

"Do you understand your new mission, Kakashi?" He asked. The silvery head in front and above him bobbed in affirmation. "Good. I will assign another shinobi to look after Katsumi-san while you are gone. This mission must be completed with the utmost discretion. Even your team must not know about his. Do you understand?" Kakashi nodded. Maybe by the time he got back from this mission, one that promised to be at least a week or two if all went well, which it hardly ever did, he would be over his cares-to-much-for-cute-school-teacher faze. The hokage handed Kakashi the scroll he would need to deliver. The younger man bowed without a word and left.

He headed towards the gate as fast as his legs would take him without using ridiculous amounts of chakra. Still, it didn't stop him from catching site of Iruka and Yuki standing in front of Iruka's apartment. Almost as if his feet were suddenly covered in extra sticky jounin stopping glue, Kakashi froze in the tree he was in, close enough to catch fragments of the conversation, yet far enough to stay undetected.

"…..had fun." Iruka was saying, smiling a shy smile at the jounin in front of him. Yuki, who was sanding very close, reached out and ran his thumb over Iruka's red cheek.

"……had….to." Kakashi cursed the distance between them that allowed him to only hear parts of what was being said, but he couldn't move forward for the risk of being caught.

What happened next, however, made him leap from the tree so fast it was as if he had been scalded. Yuki leaned forward, suddenly and with determination, and kissed Iruka firmly on the lips.

Had Kakashi stayed put just a few moments longer, he would have seen Iruka push Yuki away, stammering and blushing about going to fast, seen Yuki smile a rather strained smile and say that of course, and he was sorry, would have seen Iruka, face red and unsure, duck into this apartment with a mumbled farewell, would have seen an immensely displeased looking Yuki stalk back to his apartment. He didn't see all of this, however, because he was already almost at the gate, trying hard to fight the pain that was welling up from a place in his heart he didn't even know was there.

What was happening to him?

**Me: Sorry that wasn't longer, but it seemed like as good a place as any to leave it. I'm sorry if it wasn't that good…..I'll try harder on the next chapter…I've already got a basic idea of how it will go. Things are speeding up now, thank goodness. Maybe I'll actually get this one done. Feed back is needed for this fic to be continued. If you want more you have to ask for it. So please R&R, or I'll die from lack of reviewing **


	8. Chapter 8

**Me: I'm going to write this before I forget what it was that I was planning to do in this chappie. If it sucks I apologize….**

Yuki was just a little pissed. He had gotten the kiss he had been waiting for from Iruka, but the teacher had pushed him away almost immediately. That was not how it was supposed to happen, dammit! The chunnin had accepted his dinner offer, that had been a good sign…..

The Mist Jounin sighed as he slipped into the previously locked mission room. He had found a file on the scroll he was seeking the night before hand. If he was lucky, the file (which he had not had enough time to read over completely the night before) would tell him the whereabouts of the item he sought.

The room had been closed a little over an hour, and he had seen an ANBU bring in a folder, so that brought his hopes up a little.

Opening the locked drawer, he pulled the folder out, noting that some papers had been added. Pulling out the new documents, he scanned several lines before snarling in rage. This was not his night! Putting the papers back in their original places, he leaped back out the window, closing and relocking it, before heading out to the forest, checking to make sure he was not being followed. There was still a chance to recover the scroll, and he was not about to waste it by being careless!

Reacing the gate, he ever so carefully slipped out, looking around, slipping silently into the trees like a shadow.

"Do you have something to repot to us?"

The soft voice caused Yuki to jump and whirl around, kunai at the ready. He put it away when he saw who it was. He had been walking in silence for so long that even the small boy's soft, almost inaudible voice has scared the living daylights out of him.

"Yea." He mumbled as the second, larger shadow appeared behind the boy. Taking a deep, nervous breath, he reported what he had found.

"So," the large shadow rumbled, his voice void of most emotion, but no less intimidating. "The scroll is no longer in the village?" Yuki nodded. The larger shadow turned to leave.

"We know a short cut. We can intercept him and take the scroll back." He rumbled. Yuki started to follow him, but the boy turned his eyes on him.

"Go back to the village." He ordered. Yuki opened his mouth to ask the point, if they were just going to get the scroll back that night and kill the carrier. But the boy was already explaining with a tone of extended patience.

"You said the man carrying the scroll was Sharingan Kakashi. He's trick and powerful. We will not underestimate him. We will confront him. At worst we can injure him enough that he will be forced to turn back to the village. The scroll is valuable and dangerous. He will not risk continuing on to his destination. The risk of someone coming along and finishing him off would be to great. He will be forced back to Konoha and you will finish him off and take the scroll there. If, in the best case, we kill him and take the scroll, we will send for you." That said, he turned and disappeared behind his companion.

Yuki had a rather bad feeling about what was happening, but he shrugged it off and headed back toward the village gates.

_With Kakashi _Several_ Miles Away_

Kakashi bit his lip again, forcing himself to concentrate on his surroundings. The Hokage had told him that the scroll he was carrying was very valuable, and that enemy nin were sure to come after him for it. He had to be alert. His mind had to be on the here and now, not back in the village with a blossoming romance between a teacher and an enemy.

This time he bit his lip hard enough to draw blood.

It was in the moment of clarity the slight pain in his lip brought that ha sensed it. Another's chakra following him, coming up almost impossibly fast. He debated. Speed up and try and outrun them, using more chakra he might need later, or stand and fight and delay his mission, and, once again, use up chakra he might need later? Buying himself some time, Kakashi dodged up the rock wall he had been traveling beside, leaping nimbly from one rock to the other. The presence behind him followed him, move for move, perfectly, as if in sync with him.

_"He's good."_ Kakashi thought, dodging to an opening in the rock face, to distracted be the presence following him to search ahead. Therefore, he was not ready for the for that slammed into his stomach from the darkness in front of him. He was sent sailing backwards from the force of the blow, recovering in time to land on his feet with catlike grace, and bring his hands up, kunai in grip, to block the blow aimed for his face.

_"Another one!_ Kakashi didn't have time to ponder the addition to their little party, as four senbons, dangerously accurate, came whistling towards him, he dodged again, ducking as a huge zanbatou

whistled overhead.

As he leaped back to his feet, he yanked his hitai-ate up, revealing his Sharingan. Looking around, he spotted the chakra of his two opponents. The one who had just swung at him was quite close, and was pulling his rather large fist back for a punch. Having spotted it to late, Kakashi was unable to dodge, and the fist connected with his stomach , hard, forcing bitter bile and coppery blood up his throat and out his mouth.

He gasped for breath, twisting away as the person behind him moved forward. He was fast, but the other was faster. He twisted with Kakashi, and landed a blow on his spine between his shoulder blades. Kakashi leaped to the side again, getting away from the two this time for crucial seconds. Had there been only one and he had been able to see clearly, he would have had less of a problem. As It was, however, with both extremely skilled opponents hiding in the dark, he would have to use every last ounce of strength to get away. He wouldn't be able to do much like this, Sharingan or not, and he still had to deliver the scroll.

As much as he hated it, he knew when he needed to try and get away. His opponent had the element of surprise and the cover of darkness, not to mention, he added silently to himself as he twisted away from yet another swipe of the huge sword and dodged another barrage of needles, the benefit of teamwork.

He could hear a brook nearby. If he could get there and get underwater, he stood a better chance of escape. Dodging yet another near-disaster, he took off in that direction. Yes, if he could get to the water, he would be fine.

_The next morning with Iruka_

Iruka liked sleeping. He loved to sleep in on Saturdays when he didn't have school to worry about, even though he couldn't stand laziness. Unfortunately, it didn't appear that he would be getting much sleep that Saturday. He was woke by a gentle knocking on his door around nine.

Stretching with a yawn, Iruka headed to the door, tugging on a shirt over the black pajama pants we wore to bed, brushing his unbound hair out of his face.

"Yes?" He asked with another badly suppressed yawn as he opened the door. He looked up into Yuki's uneasy face.

"Uh? Yuki-san? What's the matter?" he asked, his heart fluttering slightly as the memories of their date the night before came back to his mind as sleep left.

"May I come in, Iruka-sensei?" He asked softly. Iruka nodded and stepped aside. Yuki slipped passed him. Iruka blushed as Yuki passed by close enough to brush his arm against Iruka's hand that was clutching the door.

Yuki walked in and sat on the edge of Iruka's couch. Iruka followed him curiously, sitting in a chair across from him. There was an uncomfortable silence for a few minuets, before it was broken by Yuki.

"Iruka-sensei, are you mad at me?" He asked. Iruka blinked, and was about to ask what for, but images of Yuki pressing his lips roughly against his own, and he pushing away mumbling a "sorry" and a hasty "goodnight" and decided that he didn't need to ask.

"No." He said softly. "I'm not angry." Yuki stood and was across the room and in front of Iruka before the teacher could blink.

"Iruka-sensei." He said, leaning over, closer than Iruka, who was leaning back as far as his chair would permit, would have liked.

"Ye-uh-yes, Y-Yuki-san?" Iruka stammered, pressing back into the chair. Yuki leaned a little bit closer, so that their noses were bumping each other gently.

"I-I really like you." He whispered, his breath ghosting warmly over Iruka's lips.

"R-Really, now, Yuki-san, we've barely known each other three or four days-" He was cut short by Yuki's lips pressing against his demandingly. Reaching up to push the other man away, he found his hands trapped inside of Yuki's, who was pressing his body closer to the young teachers. Iruka let out a squeak, trying to move his legs to get a good kick in, only to find that the close proximity rendered his feet useless. His struggles were futile, as the other man was both larger and stronger than he.

"IRUKA-SENSEI!" Naruto yelled, throwing open the door. Yuki jumped back, leaving Iruka spooked and panting. Naruto didn't notice. He looked panicked, and was panting as if he had run a great distance quickly. Iruka immediately forgot what had just happened in favor of stopping the tears that were starting to trail down the young boy's cheeks.

"Naruto! What's the matter!" he asked, kneeling by the boy as he sobbed into his shoulder. For a moment, all he got was incoherent sobs.

"'Kashi-….gulp…hosipi…t..al…sob…..emergency….."

Finnaly, after a mament of gentle cooing, Iruka was able to get an understandable response from the distraught boy.

"A team found Kakashi-sensei outside the village this m-morning." He took a shuddering breath before continuing. "He was beat up pretty bad. He wasn't even conscious! They took him strait to the em-mergency room. He's in surgery. H-he was almost d-d- they couldn't get a response out of him when they f-f-found him." Naruto choked, but kept his sobs in control this time. He was still very pale, and Iruka figured he probably didn't look much better. He had gone curiously numb when Naruto had fist began speaking. Now he felt panic beginning to rise up in his chest. He stood and took Naruto's hand.

"Come on, Naruto. Let's go wait at the hospital." He said softly. Naruto nodded and they headed for the door.

A hand catching Iruka's elbow stopped him.

"Not now, Yuki-san." Iruka said without turning. His voice held an edge that ha not been there before. Yuki did not let go.

"Iruka, I really need to discuss something with you. The boy can go by himself, and Hatake-san isn't going anywhere, except maybe a morgue." Iruka's eyes narrowed as his temper flared. He yanked his arm away, still not turning to look at Yuki.

"Now I think I understand why Kakashi disliked you so much." He said lowly. "He could probably see right through your charming smile. You're the kind of person he hates the most; The kind that would abandon his comrades without a backwards glance if it suited you. I won't do that. Kakashi needs his team to be there. He's taught them loyalty. He would never leave them, and they won't leave him. And-" He paused for a moment before continuing. "-and I need to be there to make sure he's ok."

And with that said, he and Naruto disappeared out the door in the direction of the hospital, leaving Yuki standing alone in Iruka's living room.

Yuki's face darkened with a scowl. So Hatake had survived? But just barely, it seemed. Now it lay on him to finish the job. He was tired of playing around. He didn't think he could pull off a proper assassination of someone as important as Hatake, Kakashi in the hospital without insurance. A wicked grin split his face, turning it dark and ugly as he showed his true nature to Iruka's wall. Iruka and his precious ex-student Naruto would do nicely.

He had been planning on taking Iruka with him anyway, whether the teacher had wanted to go or not. He would be fun to play with for a while. Not staying in one place for very long did have it's drawbacks. The blond brat would just make it that much easier to make sure the sensei didn't put up to much of a fight.

He walked calmly out the door, making sure to lock it before he closed it and headed for the gate. He hadn't been allowed to carried weapons with him when he had arrived in the village, but he had hidden them just outside the walls with the corps of the mist ninja who's place he had taken. Today would be Hatake-san's last.

**Me: ok, that's enough for today. Sorry if I got the characters ooc. I think I made both of them a little to weak. Please forgive me! Yea, this chapter sux…..it's worse that the others…..**

Damn!

**I'm watching Episode 61 of Naruto, so I'm distracted anyway…..I know the story, but since our comps so slow, we can't upload or download many episodes, so……..yea…..my brother and I are behind….;-; cries That's part of the reason the timeline is so screwed up in this story. Forgive me! That little detail keeps bothering me!**

**Well, I've rambled quite a bit, and I'm sure you're all tired of listening to me (if you even read this at all) so I'll shut up now.**

**How soon the next chapter's out depends on the feedback I get…..R&R please? If no one likes it I'll stop writing. puppy eyes**


	9. Chapter 9

Me: Hi again I have a question. Does anyone know any reputable sites that deal with Irish legends? Like, the old ones? I need to know for a paper I'm doing in class (I don't want all of my sources to be from the college web site or from the library…) and I'll try and polish chapter 8 up a little when I have the time….

Iruka sat silently with team seven in Kakashi's room. They had had to wait longer in the waiting room then any of them would have liked, though none would admit it to anyone but themselves. Kakashi had been in the operating room for a long time. As far as they could get from the doctors, he had a couple of broken ribs, there had been minor internal bleeding, and many bruises and lacerations, along with major chakra drain.

Iruka had requested three more chairs be brought to the room, predicting a long stay. Hours had passed since then, and they hadn't left Kakashi's bedside save the one time Iruka had forced them all to the ramen stand for lunch. No one had eaten much, not even Naruto.

The sun had long since set, and Iruka was beginning to doze in the chair nearest the bed, his back leaning against the hard, cold wall, when he felt a warm weight settle gently into his lap. Opening his eyes, he met the sad, worried gaze of the Kyuubi holder.

"Will Kakashi-sensei be alright?" Naruto questioned softly so as not to rouse the rooms other two occupants, both of whom were already asleep in their respective chairs. Iruka had tried to force them to go home for the night, but none had complied, arguing that if Iruka was allowed to stay, they, as Kakashi's students, should be allowed to stay as well.

Iruka sighed and ruffled the blond locks tiredly as the boy shifted positions on his lap to find a more comfortable spot.

"He's a legendary jounin. Of course he'll be fine. He's probably had wore injuries many times before. He just needs to rest and regain his chakras, that's all." Naruto nodded, looking back over at his current sensei as he leaned further into his former one.

"He just doesn't look like…..like Kakashi-sensei. He doesn't look like himself….."

Iruka looked down at the boy as blue eyes closed sleepily. Naruto was right.

His gaze slid back up to the man lying prone in the bed next to him, chest rising and falling shallowly, painfully. It didn't look like Kakashi. For some reason the truth in Naruto's words struck him harder than he would have thought they would.

It…..hurt.

It hurt to see the man he had yelled at, he had _hit_ just the day before, the man who infuriated him no end, and yet, in some masochistic way, though he would never admit it out loud, fascinated him no end. The man who was one of the legends of the village, who was hardly ever seen without slouch, or mask or porn, who as the ideal role model in the minds all the little mini-ninjas he taught, lying prone and silent in a sterile, white bed, not moving save for his labored breaths, white cloth replacing his mask and hitai-ate, which the medic nin had had to remove when he had been brought in.

It was….scary.

Iruka felt something slide gently across his cheek and reached up to wipe at it. His finger came away damp. He stared at his hand the longest time before finally falling asleep, wondering when and why he had started to cry.

_The Next Morning_

Iruka woke with a start, the remnants of a nightmare fading and disappearing from his mind even as he opened his eyes and tried to figure out where he was. It took a couple of seconds for him to catch site of the still figure in the bed. That was all it took for him remember.

Gently shifting and lifting Naruto from his lap, Iruka sat him gently back on the chair as he stood, stretching his legs and rearranging him sleep rumpled clothes and crooked headband, walking the few steps to Kakashi's bed side. The sun had barely risen and the three children were still sleeping peacefully (though Iruka would bet they would all have one hell of a crick in their necks (like he did) when they woke up) in their chairs. He stood silently, watching the silver haired man sleep, feeling last nights sadness well up in him again.

Without really thinking, he reached out and gently brushed away the few strands of silvery hair that fell over the white cloth covering his eye, before trailing his fingers gently over the man's covered cheek absentmindedly.

Hearing a soft snort from Naruto, his hand stilled as he looked over at the boy, watching his nose wrinkle in sleep as his shuffled around for a better position before stilling back into peaceful slumber once again.

Iruka let out a soft, fond sigh, one that turned quickly into a gasp of surprise as he felt a hand close firmly over his wrist.

His head snapped around quickly, and he found himself staring into a single sharp, blue eye.

"Ah, Hatake-san! You're awake!" he gasped, blushing as he realized that his fingers were still gently resting on the jounin's face right next to what felt like the corner of his mouth, though with the cloth on him, he couldn't really tell for sure.

"Hnnn." Kakashi made a soft noise in the back of his throat that could have been agreement, but Iruka suspected the man was really trying to get his bearings strait.

"The kids refused to leave your side, so I stayed as well to make sure they didn't run themselves down. Someone had to make them eat, after all." He said briskly as possible. Kakashi still hadn't let go of his wrist, and he was watching him intensely. It was starting to make Iruka nervous.

"I see…." Kakashi said slowly after a few moments of awkward, tense silence. He still hadn't let Iruka go, and while he wasn't hurting the other man, the circulation was leaving his hand rapidly. He wriggled his arm a little in protest and felt the grip loosen in return though Kakashi still didn't let him go. He looked like he was contemplating something.

Iruka was about to call him on this when the man in question took a breath, as if he were about to say something, paused, exhaled almost dejectedly, and let him go. Iruka pulled his arm back and took a small step away from the bed. Kakashi turned his head away to stare out the window. Iruka, unnerved by the jounin's unusual behavior (exactly _what_ had happened!) watched him silently, concern seeping into his features.

_Kakashi's point of View on All of This_

Kakashi had woke with a start a little after sunrise, eyes snapping open and taking in his surroundings. White walls, crisp sheets, the sour smell of anesthetic, alcohol, and sickness had imediatly invaded his sensitive nose. And another, more familiar smell. Several of them, actually. His nose might not have been as good as that Kiba kids, but it was good enough for him to pick up on and identify the different smells of his students and….his eyes widened slightly….one he had become increasingly familiar with over the past few days.

He turned his head gently so that he could look over Sasuke and Sakura, both sleeping in odd positions in two strait backed chairs near a dresser against the far wall. He turned his head a little further and smiled slightly at the site of Naruto curled like a puppy in the lap of his favorite sensei, who's head rested back against the wall, legs sprawled out in front of him, arms around the boy snoring in his lap, mouth open slightly, hair poking and tumbling out of his usually tight, perfect rooster's tail, hitai-ate slanted to a position almost mirroring Kakashi's.

Thinking about his leaf headband made Kakashi reach up automatically to touch the soft cloth covering his eye, not surprised to find the cold metal that was usually there gone.

His attention focused once again on the slumbering teacher as the man stirred slightly, before waking with a sharp inhalation of breath. Kakashi closed his eyes again, watching the teacher curiously though the smallest of slits in his eyelids. He watched the teacher blink around the room for a couple of seconds as Kakashi forced his breathing to become that of a sleeper again. Iruka's eyes landed on him, and an odd expression crossed his face.

He stood, gently lowering Naruto back into the chair he had vacated before straitening his clothes and walking slowly over to stand right beside Kakashi's bed, looking so sad Kakashi had the sudden urge to reach up and pull the chunnin into a kiss, one that (he liked to think) would wipe the expression right off the man's face. It made Kakashi's heart hurt to see that look on the young teacher's face.

Kakashi inwardly flinched at the mushy feelings the look had made him feel. That damn teacher was ruining him.

Kakashi's eyes nearly snapped open again in shock when the man standing over him reached out ever so gently and brushed away a few strands of hair from his face before trailing his finger softly down his cheek, his touch cool and gently when he skimmed over an exposed patch of skin. Kakashi felt his heart rate increase quite a bit. He had never hated his mask up until this very moment, when he cursed his habit of wearing one.

A soft snort from the blond in the chair drew Iruka's attention away from Kakashi for a moment, though his fingers remained touching the corner of his lips. Kakashi felt annoyance directed toward the blond for a moment, before deciding that those fingers were going to drive him crazy if they remained where they were for much longer, just barely touching him as they were. Especially since his skin seemed to be acutely aware of every shift the digits made, even through the cloth separating flesh from flesh.

Reaching up, he grabbed the slender wrist above him firmly. Brown eyes met his in surprise, a soft gasp escaping soft lips.

"Ah, Hatake-san! You're awake!" The brown eyes slid from his own to the fingers Kakashi realized were still resting on his face. The eyes returned to his, this time one of those adorable blushes dusting across his features. Mesmerized, Kakashi could only manage a "Hnnn." in response.

"The kids refused to leave your side, so I stayed as well to make sure they didn't run themselves down. Someone had to make them eat, after all." Iruka said with a small, fond smile. So that was why he was there. Kakashi knew he shouldn't have felt disappointed, but he did.

"I see…" He finally managed. Iruka looked uncomfortable, but it wasn't until he wriggled his hand a little that Kakashi realized he might be hurting the man. He loosened his grip but, still reluctant to let the man in front of him go lest he leave, continued to keep the wrist captive.

The scene he had witnessed the night before when he had left the village came back to him. He wanted so desperately to ask what had happened, if Iruka really did want to do something with that man, or if he already had. What was it the teacher saw I that man anyway!

He didn't realize has was about to give voice to these questions until he felt himself taking a deep breath. He paused. He couldn't ask Iruka something like that! It was like admitting that he had been spying on the man. Which he hadn't. Yea, even now he could delude himself.

He released the air from his lungs, let go of the teacher , who stepped away from him, and turned away. That's when he spotted his flack vest.

OH YEA! THE SCROLL! HE HAD COMPLEATLY FORGOTEN!

He had to get it back to the hokage ASAP! There was a spy in the village, he was sure of it. There was no other way those two nins would have known to ambush him that night on that particular trail. And he had a sudden guess as to who it was. He tried to set up but was only rewarded with much pain and little movement. A tan hand on his chest forced him to lie still.

"Hatake-san, you came in yesterday with massive chakra drain, among other things. It'll be a little while before you're able to sit up and move properly. Please don't over tax yourself until then." the chunnin's voice was heavy with concern. Kakashi felt his insides squirm pleasantly at that, despite his annoyance at not being able to move. The he had an Epiphany.

"Ne, Iruka-sensei?" he asked softly, turning his head back towards the teacher (who, coincidently, hadn't removed his hand from Kakashi' chest.). The man in question raised an eyebrow to show he was listening. "Did the nurses take anything out of my vest?" Iruka looked surprised, but turned his head towards the chair in the corner that held the garment.

"Not that I know of, no. I didn't think they were supposed to." Kakashi nodded.

"Good. Go over and look I the top pocket on the inside. It's hidden in the lining. There should be a scroll in there. You HAVE to get it to the Hokage as soon as possible! It's what those nin were after." Iruka blinked but nodded, walking over to the vest and turning it inside out, searching. He found the pocket with a little trouble and pulled the small item out.

"Demo, Hatake-san, why not have Naruto or Sasuke take it?" He asked, glancing back to the man watching him from the bed.

"Because," Kakashi answered "someone in Konoha told those nin I where I was going and what I had. Naruto or Sasuke, being members of my team, are the logical choices for me to send with the scroll. If the spy is who I think it is, then you would have a better chance of slipping past him because…." Kakashi paused for a moment, mulling over weather or not he should say what he was about to say. Shrugging it off, he grinned. "because Yuki-san likes you."

Iruka blinked at him. "Yuki-san?" He didn't sound very surprised, Kakashi noted.

"Hai. The nins that attacked me were wave ninjas." He said stiffly. If there was one thing he had learned, it was that. Iruka nodded, turning wordlessly and headed for the door. As he placed his hand on the knob, Kakashi called out softly to him.

"Hey, Iruka-sensei?" the man turned, his hand still poised to open the door. "be careful, please?" Kakashi said at length. Iruka blushed slightly and nodded, smiling as he left the room.

Me: Sorry if this chapter was a little boring, but it's five page, so I think I'll leave it here for now


	10. Chapter 10

Me: Might as well start on this since I have nothing else to do except home work And who wants to do that?

Iruka walked down the street as calmly as he always did. Or at least, that's what it would look like to anyone passing by. On the inside, he was like a little kid, jumping at every little noise. He didn't know what was so important about this scroll, but some one wanted it badly enough to go through the trouble of infiltrating the village and setting up an ambush for a very powerful ninja. If that was how important the thing was, then he didn't think he wanted to know what was contained inside it.

He smiled and waved as he was greeted by children and parents alike, wishing he had the time to stop by his apartment and make himself more presentable. But he didn't. He had to get the scroll to the hokage without meeting…

"Hello, Iruka-sensei!"

Iruka stopped dead in his tracks and turned slowly, as if that would make the owner of the voice disappear. It didn't of course, though Iruka saw no harm in hoping.

"Ahhhh. Yuki-san." He said coldly. Yuki gave him a hurt look.

"Ne, Iruka-sensei, are you still mad at me?" he practically whimpered. Iruka got the sneaking suspicion he was playing with him. "I'm really sorry." Iruka simply turned around and started to walk away. A strong, almost painful grip on his arm stopped him though.

"Iruuuuuuuukkkkaaaaa! Come on. I really am sorry! Let me buy you a drink." An odd smile crept across Yuki's face. "After all, it's not like you have anywhere to be right now. It's the weekend. No class." Iruka hesitated. He couldn't tell Yuki that he did indeed have somewhere to be. While he could lie and come up with some excuse, Yuki was smart and a jounin. And there was a weird vibe hanging in the air between them. Something about the look Yuki was giving Iruka gave him the creeps. He tried to pull away.

"I'm picking up some breakfast for the kids. They're still at the hospital and the food there is awful. Hatake-san hasn't woke up yet, and we're planning on staying until he does. I'm sorry, but I don't have time."

He tried to pull away again, but Yuki's grip only tightened until it was painful.

"I'll go with you!" the jounin said cheerfully, turning in the direction Iruka had been headed, but taking a road that led _away_ from the hokage's tower. Iruka couldn't protest without tipping the other man off to what he was doing. So he followed. He would have to wait and see if he could lose the jounin in the crowd he knew would be in the market that morning.

Iruka decided that he would have to revise that plan, however, when Yuki tugged him down a road that lead to one of the lesser used gates instead, in the opposite direction of the market.

"Yu-Yuki-san, we're headed in the wrong direction." he said, trying to force the nervousness he was feeling out of his voice. He tried to pull away, digging his heels into the ground. Yuki simply tugged harder on his arm, causing Iruka to stumble after him.

"I saw you leaving the hospital this morning. I decided to pay Hatake-san a visit myself. It was strange. Every one was asleep." he turned to Iruka, that strange, creepy smile still in place. "Who knew the doctors in Konoha were the kind to lie down on the job."

Iruka felt his insides freeze. Yuki simply laughed , turning around and continuing toward the gate.

"I-I don't know why they would be asleep." Iruka croaked, though he had a very good idea as to why they could be asleep, and it was about to dislocate his shoulder. "They were fine when I left." Yuki laughed pleasantly.

"Of course, Kakashi and the kids were gone when I got up there." he added. Iruka didn't know whether or not to be worried or to sigh in relief. Deciding that he had run out of stalling time, he slowly slipped his hand towards the pouch of kunai he had still strapped to his leg.

"I wouldn't if I were you." Yuki's voice was still pleasant, but there was a sharp edge to it. Iruka didn't even pause. He plunged his hand into the pouch and tugged out one of the knives, holding it for close range combat. He swung it at the hand holding his arm, but before the sharpened tip could meet flesh, the world spun around him and he found himself pressed none to gently against a tree, kunai falling from his hand as a pressure point in his wrist was hit and both hands were pinned above his head. Damn jounin.

"I warned you." All pleasantness was gone from his voice. He leaned forward until his mouth was right next to Iruka's ear. "Now, why don't you be a good boy and hand over that scroll so that I don't have to take it from you the hard way?"

_After Iruka Left the Hospital_

Kakashi watched out the window as Iruka hurried down the street, hoping he hadn't put the chunnin in to much danger. If the young man got himself hurt, Kakashi vowed to rip the heads off of everyone responsible. Then he'd slit their throats.

He was about to turn his face away from the window when movement caught his eye. He knew who it was without seeing the face.

Kakashi closed his eyes and summoned all of the chakra he had regained overnight (which wasn't really very much) and pushed it into his muscles, affording him movement, if only for a short time. Standing, he dressed in record time, rousing the three children as he did. Naruto looked like he was about to raise a fuss, and even Sasuke looked like he was about to complain (not that Kakashi would have blamed them, knowing how they had slept all night) but Kakashi held a finger urgently to his lips. Making a series of hand signs he and his team had come up with a while previous, he motioned for them to leave the room via the window. They obeyed immediately, though he knew by their faces he had a lot of explaining to do.

Following them, he felt the intruders Chakra flood the building in a jutsu he recognized as one that could put massive amounts of people asleep at one time. He guessed Yuki had had trouble at the front desk. Pushing chakra into his legs he jumped up to the roof of a nearby building where the kids were waiting for him, motioning for them to follow, and headed for the forbidden forest, hoping Yuki would follow him instead of going after the chunnin.

_Yuki's Point of View_

Yuki looked out the open window, watching the four shadows disappear in the direction of the forbidden forest. Yuki smirked. How big of an idiot did Hatake take him for? If he had the scroll he would be headed for the Hokage tower. He must have given it to someone else. Of course, he didn't blame Hatake for not thinking his plan all the way through. He probably wouldn't be thinking very strait either if he had been the one on the receiving end of the beating he was sure Hatake had gotten.

So then who had he given the scroll to? Who had been with Kakashi that he would trust enough to with something that wasn't even supposed to exist?

Well, that was an easy question. And it made things soooooo much easier for him. He smirked and headed in the direction of the Hokage tower.

"Iruka-sensei…" He sang to himself "Stay where you are. I'm coming for you!"

_Lets Call That A Flashback and Head Back to Present Time With Yuki and Iruka_

"I don't know what you're talking about." Iruka snapped, jerking away from Yuki's lips as they grazed the shell of his ear. "Now let go!"

"I don't think so." Yuki said calmly, sliding one hand into Iruka's vest. "Now where did you hide it?"

Iruka growled and kicked, his knee missing it's target and coming into contact with Yuki's stomach instead. The jounin gasped, caught by surprise. He had overlooked that.

Taking advantage of that, Iruka yanked his hands away, grabbing again for his kunai. Feeling his hand close around the cool metal he yanked it up, stabbing outward as he did. Yuki saw what he was doing and moved to the side in time for the knife to catch him in the shoulder instead of the chest where Iruka had been aiming. Taking the opportunity, Iruka dodged in the opposite direction and ran.

Yuki was a jounin, a rank above him, and Iruka was no match for him in a hand to hand fight. His best bet was to get tot the Hokage's tower as quickly as possible. He had to get the scroll there where it would be safe.

_With Kakashi and team seven_

Kakashi knew something was wrong when he sensed Yuki's chakra headed in the wrong direction. He did an about face and followed it.

"Kakashi-sensei! What's going on?" Naruto demanded. Kakashi really didn't think he had the time or the energy to explain, but he also knew the dangers of going on any mission without the proper debriefing.

"Yuki is a spy for the two wave nin's that attacked me the other night. They want the scroll I was carrying. I gave it to Iruka to give to the Hokage. Yuki must have figured that out."

What!" Naruto screeched, speeding up "You drug Iruka-sensei into this! Why didn't you wake one of us up!"

"Explanations later!" Kakashi snapped, sensing a flare of both Iruka's and Yuki's chakra off to the side near the eastern gate. He could feel his muscles starting to protest, the small amount of chakra he had gathered starting to run low as he pushed more and more of it into his limbs, making himself go faster and faster.

_"Hang in there Iruka, please!"_ he thought."_I'm coming with reinforcements!"_

Me: This one is shorter, sorry. I had so many scenarios running through my head I just had to type


	11. Chapter 11

Me: Thank you all so very much for the reviews! I know I don't say this enough, but I reeeeaaallllyyy appreciate it It's what keeps me writing J Now on with the story!

Iruka was fast, but Yuki was faster, and while Iruka made it a point to train every day for at least some amount of time, when your main activity of the day was working behind a desk….well….

So Yuki caught up.

But being a teacher had it's ups as well as it's downs. Yuki got quite a shock when he reached out to grasp the young mans arm, only to have him disappear in a puff of smoke.

"A Shadow clone!" He snarled, spinning around, looking for the real Iruka. He spotted him, quite a distance ahead of him leaping roof to roof in the direction of (where else) Hokage tower.

"Dammit!" He swore, leaping forward. Zabuza and Haku would have his head on a platter if he failed to get the scroll away from a _chunnin_! He sped up, gaining ground quickly.

Iruka risked a glance over his shoulder. The jounin was defiantly closer now then he had been a few moments ago. Iruka swallowed, forcing more chakra into his legs, trying to speed up. He doubted the shadow replication would work a second time.

_" 'common Iruka, think! Weren't you just bragging to him the other day that you were one of the best tricksters Konoha has ever known!" _Iruka worried his lip a little, looking around for something, _anything_, that might help him now.

He had made it to the edge of town by now. Hopefully that meant two things; the crowds would, as he had originally hoped, provide him with some cover and time to think, and Since there was only one of Yuki in a village full of leaf ninja, he would be more careful of causing a commotion. After all, Iruka blended in here. Yuki, guest or no, did not. The town was to his advantage.

Dropping to the ground, Iruka ducked quickly into one of the more busy shops that lined the street. Walking as swiftly as he could without attracting to much attention (it would be more advantuouse to him if Yuki was the one causing the commotion) he headed for the back door to the ally. As he left, he preformed an quick henge no jutsu, changing his appearance to that of a small child. It wouldn't fool Yuki completely, not if the jounin sensed his chakra, but it was something the jounin might not expect, and so therefore might buy him some time.

With that thought in mind, he headed out of the ally and into the streets where he blended perfectly with the crowed.

_"If you can't beat um'" _He thought cheerfully to himself as he watched Yuki enter the shop from the corner of his eye _"outsmart um'!"_

_With Yuki in the Shop_

Yuki tried to be patent. The shop was crowded and clustered with leaf nins, and he couldn't pick up on Iruka's chakra because of it. He looked around, trying to spot the familiar roosters tail and dark skin, but the teacher was nowhere in site. Cursing to himself, he turned and ran smack into a green spandex covered chest.

"YUKI-SAN! HOW WONDERFUL TO SEE YOU ON THE BEAUTIFUL SPRING DAY!" Everyone around the pair edged slowly away.

"Uh yes, Gai-san, was it?" he continued at the affirming nod. "I was actually looking For Iruka-sensei. I could have sworn I saw him duck in here a moment ago."

Gai clutched his chest dramatically. "AHHHH YES, LOVELY IRUKA-SENSEI! THE WONDERFUL TEACHER OF OUT VILLAGE'S YOUTH! SUCH A POLIT AND CARING PERSON! I SAW HIM LEAVE BY THE BACK DOOR JUST A MOMENT AGO!" Turning and cursing to himself, Yuki ignored the puzzled look Gai shot him and headed for the back of the shop. Of course Iruka would have take the back way out.

Leaving through the door, he leaped up onto a roof, scanning the road. He could find no trace of the sensei, but that didn't mean he wasn't there. Iruka was clever. So far, Yuki had just been expecting to be able to catch up with the younger man and take both him and the scroll without much trouble. He had overlooked how tricky being a teacher to weapon wielding ten year olds could be. Iruka would have to be clever to survive a job like that.

So, the question was, if he were an exceptionally clever teacher who had had a reputation as a prankster and trouble maker himself when he was younger, how would he avoid getting caught?

He headed in the direction of Hokage tower. At least he knew where his prey was headed. He continued to scan the crowd. After a few moments, a movement caught his eye. It was a young boy, probably not much older than that kid that was so attached to Iruka….what was his name…Naruto? It was an ordinary boy, nothing suspicious, but there was something….

The chakra the boy was using.

"A jutsu?" Yuki muttered out loud. "Henge no jutsu!"

_Back With Iruka_

He could sense Yuki's chakra almost right on top of him, and he had the distinct feeling of being watched. He wasn't sure how much longer he could hold onto the jutsu without suing enough chakra to where himself out. The amount of chakra he was using now combined with the chakra he had used to try and run from the jounin was quickly adding up.

Not really wanting to cause a stir in the street, but knowing he was exposing himself by leaving the crowd, Iruka headed into the nearby tree cover of the park, dispelling the jutsu once he was out of site. Then he leapt into a tree with every intention of running again.

That plan was nipped in the bud, however, when he felt an arm slide around his waist, the other forming hand seals by his head.

"My own special jutsu." Yuki's voice came, hot breath once again on his ear. Iruka felt as if his entire body was flooded with ice water. He wanted to vomit but he couldn't move properly.

"It's like the Nara family's me-and-my-shadow technique that that Naruto kid was going on about, only I can hold it a lot longer, and you don't do everything I do, you do everything I _tell_ you to do. I just force some of my chakra into your body and let it mix with yours for a bit, and there you have it!" Yuki smirked. "Care for a demonstration?" (a/n: for the record, I made that up that's why it's so cliché (just in case someone didn't know))

Iruka most defiantly_ didn't_ want a demonstration, but when he tried to say so, all that came out of his mouth was a muffled growl.

Yuki laughed, stepping around Iruka on the branch and leaning against the trunk of the tree.

"I've never really had to use this trick before." the jounin admitted. "I prefer to not leave anyone who knows I'm a spy. It would be bad for my health." He smirked. "But I'm not planning on leaving a treasure like you behind. Now hand over the scroll." Iruka growled again, but his hand moved of it's own accord, reaching into his vest and extracting the scroll. Yuki, grinning with triumph, snatched it away. Iruka closed his eyes. Now Yuki was going to kill him so he couldn't blow his cover. Then he was going to go after Kakashi and the kids.

Iruka blinked when instead the jounin leaned forward, stopping when they were nose to nose. "you're clever, but not clever enough. I still caught you." With that said, Yuki pressed his lips forcefully to Iruka's who was more mortified than anything when he realized that he couldn't pull away. Especially when the jounin's tongue forced it's way passed his lips and into his mouth.

"YOU PERVERT! GET AWAY FROM IRUKA-SENSEI!" Was all the warning Yuki had before a small foot slammed forcefully into his head, sending him careening into another tree.

"Ne ne, Iruka-sensei! Are you alright!" Iruka gazed down at Naruto, who was looking at him with wide, worried blue eyes. He was unable to speak, and could only stare at the confused boy with a look of horror on his face.

"Iruka-sensei?" Naruto asked, reaching towards him.

"Kill that brat. Then kill Hatake." Yuki's voice drifted into Iruka's mind, and he wasn't sure whether or not the man had spoke out loud. All he knew was that his hand was moving toward the boy on it's own, gripping a kunai tightly.

"Naruto! Move!"

And the next moment Iruka's hand was slicing open air. He turned to see Kakashi lowering the boy down on another limb not to far away. That man looked exhausted and was white as a sheet, but he had his Sharingan uncovered.

"And now" He heard Yuki laugh behind him "the fun really begins!"

_Kakashi's Point of View_

****Kakashi had never thought he would be glad for the Inuzuka energy tablets he carried around with him just in case. But he was. Yuki had a hold on Iruka's chakra, and by combining his own with Iruka's, he could force the chunnin to do just about anything he wanted him to. Kakashi shuddered at the thought, though his mind was conjuring up images more along the line of Iruka laying naked under Yuki, unable to protest as Yuki slipped his hand…..

Kakashi shook his head, determined to lose that mental image. _That_ was never going to happen to _his_ teacher. He was going to make damn sure of it.

He moved to one side, pushing Naruto out of the way as Iruka brought his kunai down forcefully into the wood where they had been standing. Naruto looked like he was vaguely in shock, not wanting to die, but not wanting to hurt his favorite teacher either. Kakashi caught the mixed look of panic, shame, and relief on Iruka's face as he pulled the weapon out once again.

The teachers motions were jerky, Kakashi noted as he lunged at him again, and his chakra was jittery, almost spasmodic. It was good, meaning that Iruka was fighting Yuki's hold on him.

"Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura! You three handle Yuki. He's the one pulling the strings!"

The three students nodded and took off from their respective branches. Kakashi jumped forward and grabbed Iruka before he could intercept them.

"I don't think you want to do that." He said gently. "I'll be your opponent."

Me: I feel like there is something wrong witht his chapter, but since I have been angisting over it for two weeks now and still haven't figured out what it is, I think I'm just going to post it, and if anyone knows what's wrong with it, tell me so i can take it down and re-write it, k? Please and thank you


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